Red Like Roses
by Sen Kotoba
Summary: Three moments of happier times, before blood ran red like roses...


"You're watching me sleep again."

Flynn blinked suddenly, pulled out of his slight hypnotic trance from the low firelight and Yuri's soft breathing at the mumbling. Dark eyes blinked open as a wicked smile crossed his lips, catching Flynn's blue ones with a sleepy glint of amusement. "I don't know what you're talking about," he told Yuri softly, almost teasingly as the dark haired swordsman rolled over.

"Heh." Yuri slid an arm behind his head as he regarded his lover. "Don't think I don't know about how you like to play with my hair as I sleep or how you always kiss my forehead before you go to sleep yourself or-"

"Enough, enough!" Flynn slapped a hand across Yuri's mouth, laughing. "You make me sound like a hopeless romantic. And don't give me that 'of course you are' look," he admonished him as Yuri proceeded to do just that. "I am not a hopeless romantic."

For a moment, Yuri regarded him, then grabbed him with a grin, twisting so he pinned him with the element of surprise and soft lips, giving Flynn all the reasons to not fight back, to just part his lips and-

* * *

Silence. His room was always silent now, ever since- he raised a hand to his chest. Then. That moment. Life still moved on, but there was no denying that a single moment had changed everything. A single second, so powerful it impacted everyone's lives.

None of them didn't dream of that moment. Some of them were cold sweats in the middle of the night, memories of the battle they fought and what they had lost. Some were more, of what had happened before then and how it had tied into what happened.

Some, like his, were fantasy with reality. A memory of blood on his hands, his blood, as he screamed out, screamed-

* * *

"-Yuri!" Flynn's voice rang out, exasperated. He watched as the swordsman turned, a cocky smile settled easily on his lips as his eyes roamed over Flynn's nude form. Without trying to slop too much water on the floor, he made another desperate grab for the towel held just out of reach, retreating back to the rapidly cooling water when the winter chilled air hit him.

"You look good like that," Yuri told him, grinning as he glared at him. "Though I think you're missing something."

A blond eyebrow raised at that. "A towel and my clothes," Flynn told him seriously. "I'm not in the mood for these games, Yuri. Give them back, n-" His words were cut off as the towel fell in a heap on the floor, followed by Yuri's boots and clothing. Sure enough, a Yuri wearing only his smile entered the tub as well, spilling water over the sides as he slid in over Flynn.

"I said you were missing something. I think a hot boyfriend would be it," he said easily, his nose brushing Flynn's as he leaned in for a kiss. The Commandant acquiesced quickly, mouth opening to deepen the kiss as he pulled one hand out of the relative warmth of the water, tracing the line of Yuri's jaw. Yuri slowly pulled his lips closed, shifting to straddle him as Flynn's other hand stroked down his hip, pulling him close as-

* * *

There was a knock at the door, pulling him out of his reverie. It had to be time. Not a funeral, not without a body. A memorial, for the soldier that never was. The soul that did more for Zaphias and Terca Lumieres than anyone else.

The man that wasn't going to be remembered by history.

He already knew who had been written into the history books, who the big hero had already been made out to be. It wasn't the person that deserved it. It wasn't the person that actually did any of it, that actually did any of those deeds. It made him sick, to know who it was they had designated to carry the torch as the savior. He didn't deserve it.

And there was nothing he could do to change it. He couldn't go and bring him back. He couldn't change the past. He couldn't-

* * *

"-be serious." Yuri looked up at him, dark eyes sober. "I mean it. What are we going to do if the other dies?"

Flynn took a deep breath, trying to ignore the feeling of foreboding building in his gut. "I know you can be serious, Yuri. I just don't see why you picked _now_ to talk about it." He indicated the mess on his hand, just now starting to separate from it's watery base and thicker white components.

With a shrug, Yuri snagged a nearby cloth and started wiping the sweat and semen off his own stomach. "Why not now? Seems like as good a time as any. Especially with-" His voice broke off suddenly, passing the cloth to Flynn. They knew. They knew what came tomorrow, and the possibility one of them wouldn't be coming back. "Things are different now," he continued. "I mean, you're moving up in rank and I'm in a brand new guild that frankly needs all the help it can get…" He trailed off as Flynn placed a hand over his mouth gently.

"It's the same as before, Yuri," he told him softly. "As long as we're together, we're invincible. We'll stop Alexei. Now." He pulled him close, holding him as he leaned back. "Stop ruining the moment."

He felt more than heard Yuri chuckle, then, ever so softly-

* * *

"-I love you." The words echoed uselessly in the empty room, never to reach his ears again. Roaring silence rushed to fill the energy that used to be there instead, screaming through him. He turned away from the room, not wanting to face the memories right now.

"I'm sorry, Yuri."


End file.
